Outcomes are specific descriptions of what a student is expected to be able to do or understand at the completion of an activity or course. An activity might have more than one outcome, and each may have a grade against it (usually on a scale). Other terms for Outcomes are Competencies and Goals. In simple terms an Outcome is like any other grade except that it can be applied to multiple activities. When the activity is marked, a mark should be given for the submission itself and for the outcome.

Add outcomes from the standard available list (right side), and use the left-facing arrow button to add them to outcomes used list (left side). Multiple outcomes may be selected by holding down the Apple or Ctrl key whilst clicking on the individual outcomes.

Exporting outcomes

Outcomes (and their associated scales) can be exported by clicking the "Export all outcomes" button. This will send a file (in .csv format) that can be read by Excel, OpenOffice.org or by any text editor.

Importing outcomes

Outcomes (and associated scales) may be imported by submitting a csv file. The format should be as follows:

Field name

Description

Required

Format

outcome_name

The full name of the outcome

Yes

String

outcome_shortname

The short name of the outcome

Yes

String

outcome_description

The description of the outcome

No

String

scale_name

The name of the scale used

Yes

String

scale_items

A comma-separated list of scale items

Yes

String

scale_description

The description of the scale

No

String

Here is an example:

outcome_name;outcome_shortname;outcome_description;scale_name;scale_items;scale_description
Participation;participation;;Participation scale;"Little or no participation, Satisfactory participation, Full participation";

Note that while importing:

Existing outcomes and scale will be used if available (no overwriting is done by the script)

The script will stop if it detects that the file contains invalid data.

Removing selected outcomes for activities

Previously selected outcomes are greyed out on the update activity page, however they can be removed via the gradebook on the categories and items page. They will appear in the list either below or above the activity they have been enabled in and will have the same icon as that activity. Note that if you have renamed the outcome since you assigned it to the activity, the orginal name will be displayed. Deleting the outcomes from this list will result in the outcomes being deselected on the update activity page.